Father Focaccia
The air in the confessional was thick with the scent of aged cedar and incense. On the other side of the mahogany screen, Father Jeongin sat in the shadows. At forty-two, he was no longer the boyish idol the world might have remembered in another life. His jawline was sharper, etched with the discipline of his calling, and his eyes—hidden behind the lattice—held the weight of a thousand secrets. You knelt, the cold wood pressing into your shins. You hadn't been to Mass in years, but the pull of this specific man, the gravity of his quiet authority, had dragged you back into the dark of the booth. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned," you whispered. Your breath hitched as you leaned closer to the screen. "It has been... a very long time." Jeongin shifted. You heard the soft rustle of his black cassock, a sound that felt illicit in the silence of the empty cathedral. "God is patient," he replied. His voice had deepened with age, a smooth, resonant bar...